Starring:
Michiko (emitter), Yori, Nozomi, Hanami, Ryouji (as Famoso)
Date: March 30, 2015
Summary:
While on a mission to deliver supplies to a local village, the group of genin are attacked by an interesting Mariachi Band who wish to fight the strongest shinobi!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Mariachi Banditos - Pillow Fight"
Land of Lightning
At the gate, Iwata Kyousuke would be waiting for those summoned to join the upcoming mission. Yamayuki Nozomi, Shinatobe Hanami, and Saito Yorishiro would have been summoned, discovering notes on their doors a day or two in advance so they could prepare, rest, and eat well. The Jounin leans lightly against the gates, chatting casually to the guards, while a cart is being brought along to the gate as well.
Yori is ever the early-bird and arrives before the appointed time, fully prepared. Since the note hadn't been overly specific on the mission specs he'd packed for a days trip, including water, food, and other various necessary supplies. Once he arrives at the gate he's surprised to see Kyousuke there but takes it all in stride, bowing formally to the Jounin in greeting. "Iwata-san, it's very nice to see you. Are you leading the mission today?" He asks curiously.
Nozomi made careful note of the appointed time and place to meet, and made sure to pencil it in on her calendar so she wouldn't forget it. After careful deliberation regarding the supplies necessary for this mission, she made her way to the gates with a small pack attached to her belt. Otherwise, she dressed like she normally does, but only carrying her half-flute with her.
Hanami double checks her gear, a bit paranoid that she forgot something but as usual she's packed and ready to go. She hurries to the meeting point, giving a wave to Yori and Nozomi before bowing to Kyousuke, "Thank you for including me on this mission." She then waits patiently and easily.
Kyousuke inclines his head in greeting to everyone, not answering Yori's question until everyone is gathered. The man straightens and clears his throat to seem a bit more official. "As you all likely know, we've had many instances of 'bad guys' attacking Kumogakure and our allies. Not just the criminals that escaped, but kidnappers, bandits, and other threats that are both troublesome and worrisome." He pauses for a moment, wondering if this introductory was too long. They weren't fresh genin. They all had a taste of battle.
Oh well. "So! Kumogakure has a few jobs to do with all the danger. This is a two-in-one mission, of sorts. You guys will be acting as a patrol, moving along Route A. You should all know that there's a few villages near the end of the trail. Hence why we have this cart," he pats its side. "You guys need to guard this cart and ensure the supplies get distributed to the furthest town. We've been steadily sending supplies that we have excess of or can donate. And all our cargo is, fortunately, starting to come in, which just adds to what we have in surplus." With all that explained, his gaze turns to the Saito. "Saito-kun, you'll be leading Shinatobe-kun and Yamayuki-kun today. I won't be coming along. Any questions before you head out?"
Yori looks like he just got hit in the stomach. His mouth is slightly agape as he looks up at Kyousuke and the last few sentences were a bit of a muddled sound to him. It takes him a few moments to gather himself before he bows deeply, "Uh, no, Iwata-san." He manages to get out. "It sounds straightforward. We will ensure the mission gets completed with all effeciency sir." He turns to look back at the others, still a bit of a stunned look in his eyes before he bows to them, "It's nice to have you both on this mission. Did either of you have questions?"
To Nozomi, this looks like a fairly simple mission, though she inwardly wondered what she could contribute, she would not say that aloud. Instead, she would simple shake her head from side to side and smile. "No, sounds fairly simple to me, patrol the area between here and the destination village, guard the cart, and distribute the food. Easy peasy," she says with a large smile.
Hanami listens carefully and nods. She does give Yori a quick, reassuring smile, "You'll be fine Yori. And yes, sounds like a hopefully straightforward mission. Protecting the cart might not be the easiest if there really is trouble, but I'm sure we'll be more than capable of handling it." She nods, does a quick once over and is ready to set out whenever Yori is ready.
As soon as everyone seems ready to set out, Kyousuke gives a small grin and pats Yori on the back. "Do your best, Saito-kun. That's all we can ask of you." Then he sees them off, though he doesn't take a step out of the village gates. He just watches, then turns back into the village to go about his daily business.
As they move along, the team would see nothing too suspicious for the time being. It was quite peaceful, even, as they moved along the pathways. Then again, it was only the beginning of the journey, and there was a long trail ahead of them.
Yori would take the reins of the horse-drawn cart to get them under way, offering for Nozomi and Hanami to get in the back with the supplies to watch from there. It's not exactly covered or anything. "Please keep a careful watch out Nozomi-san, Hanami-san. With these supplies bandits may try and steal some and I want to ensure they all reach the village that really needs them." He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little nervous at leading, but it's hidden well. His eyes scan the road ahead and to the sides, watching for any signs of danger as they travel. The other occasional traveler is greeting with a smile and a nod but no more.
Nozomi gives Yori a slight grin a she senses how nervous he is. Interestingly enough, instead of making her more nervous, his nervousness puts her at ease. She then looks over her surroundings, trying to be as watchful as she can be. Unfortunately, this causes her stumble every so often, but she manages to stay on her feet anyway. Not bad, all things considering…
Hanami gets in the back of the wagon, staying alert as she peers around them while also making sure the supplies stay in order back there. She keeps a kunai in hand, out of sight in preparation for any trouble. She glances at Yori, knowing this must be hard on him but thinking he's probably the best for the job. She sure knows /she/ isn't fit for leading!
It's been a short while that the group has been riding along and the cart comes upon a large sheer cliff face. The base of a large mountain and the bottom of a narrow pass where the trail winds through. Mexican mariachi music begins flowing across the pass as a man walks out from around a corner. He's dressed in tights, no shirt, and a red and white full head mask with yellow lightning bolts spreading out from the eyes over the head and from the mouth down the chin. A cape is strapped to his shoulders and there looks to be some belt with a few pouches for ninja supplies strapped around his hips. "Hola, ninos!" he shouts, "I have arrived to do battle with the strongest of the Kumogakure ninja!" He waits a long second as the music reaches a speedy crescendo. He shakes a fist, "Cower in fear at my awesome and famous power!" he spreads a hand across the sky before striking a bicep pose with one arm with the other pointing fingers into the sky, "Known throughout the land as, THUNDER FAMOSO!" He waves a hand around in front of him, "Though, if you little ninos are all so cowered by my power, as I see you are, then you are obliged to pay me homage by…" he taps his chin, "…ooooh, I don't know. Giving me those supplies for a start?" He snaps his fingers as the music stops and several masked men come out of hiding where the music was coming from. Apperently, the mariachi band is his backup muscle.
Those of the mariachi band strike up a very lively tune, of course, their drums and guitars and maracas all going at a fast tempo as they being to dance! "All hail! THUNDER FAMOSO~~~!" they sing, whirling about and then scattering to the wind…. Well, not the bongo player. He's staying where he is as he puts his neck strap on. But the other two seem intent on smacking the genin upside the head. The guitarist plays a chord or two, then swings the instrument at Nozomi's middle while the maraca player shake-shake-shakes them above Hanami's head every now and then to bonk her.
Yori has the horses continue onwards at a steady pace even once he hears the music. It's not until the man arrives on the street that he pauses, steady gaze remaining on him despite the showy routine. Eyes slip over the rest of the 'band' as they show themselves and Yori waits a moment before he speaks. "I'm sorry Thunder-san. I'm afraid I don't know who you are. And while I am sure you're a fearsome foe I have no wish to fight you either. We're only traveling to deliver these supplies to a village in need." When the minions start to move a faint frown appears and Yori says over his shoulder, "Hanami-san, Nozomi-san, be on guard."
Nozomi grunts as the guitar hits and falls backward on the ground, despite an attempt to dodge the blow. She attempts to roll over to her feet only to sway as she comes up due to over-correcting for her momentum. Next, she fumbles for her flute and starts to circle around the cart, in hopes to give her time to act in the near future.
Hanami growls a bit as soon as the maraca man attacks her. The thumps to the head have her fall back a bit into the cart. She tries to keep her balance, though now her head is kind of ringing but it doesn't stop her from flinging out her readied kunai, charged with wind chakra right at the man. They weren't getting these supplies.
Thunder Famoso laughs at that and shakes his head, "I'm sorry too. For you see, my ninja way compels me to fight the strongest in the villages I meet. So, I am here. Good my men, take their supplies and I shall deal with the small one here." He bows, "Now Nino, prepare to see my skill! For I am…THUNDER FAMOSO!" The masked man takes a heavy booted step, then another, going faster and faster until he's running full tilt at Yori. "You are the strongest here, you shall feel my leap attack!" He launches himself in the air, sticking his feet out for a drop kick with both feet. An attack so powerful, that it needs two hits!
The band continues to play on their victims' heads. Well, those maracas won't stop bonking Hanami, though one hand takes a break to try and snatch a small pillow from the cart. The guitarist strums along his merry way while the bongo player finally finished putting on his drums. He leaps into the battle and proceeds to make some noise, acting like a drunk the way he swings his instrument about. "Aaaaallll haillllll~~~~ The GREAT! THUNDER! FAMOOOOOSOOOOO~~~" they sing in harmony.
Yori is keeping an eye on the other two as well as he can but with an attack coming his way he can only do so much. When the super duper double flying kick comes he jumps off of the cart, then flickers away in a flash. Concern fills him for his companions but he knows he won't be able to help them just yet. "Please Thunder-san, we do not mean to cause any trouble. There are many others much stronger than myself within the Village." He moves then, flickering ahead to the man and appearing at his side, trying to elbow him quickly before swinging around and bringing his metal covered fist towards the freak. Er, man. "If you wish a spar with one of them I can speak to the Village." He offers.
Nozomi finally manages to get her flute out and frowns. "You and your band are absolutely tone deaf. I swear, your music is actually dangerous… to good taste." This said, she starts to play a counter-melody, and almost immediately in the first chord she hits a piercing note aimed directly at the person attacking her, hoping to dissuade him from future attacks.
Hanami tries gathering the wind around her to flip around the guy's attack but cart's contents mess her up and she gets whacked again. Really getting on her nerves. She spits at the man and flings her kunai charged with wind chakra, hoping to stop him from pilfering the pillow and the rest of the supplies.
Yori is able to deliver a good hit along Thunder Famoso's side with the body flicker strike. He hardly moves though but with the vambrace hit in the same place he does slide a foot slightly. "Ho ho! So, the little one shows promise! So, we shall see how you fair against this now! We shall see what you can do when I use my 'righteous indignation'!" He crosses his arms and begins building his chakra until it explodes with a poof of dust. His muscles expand a bit and does he even get bigger? Thunder Famoso makes a hand seal and sucks in his breath before shooting out a stream of wind at Yori. "Wind Style, Great Breakthrough!" an echo can be heard. He follows it with another blast of wind. "Good, I thought you would have strong ones at Kumogakure, do not count yourself short little Nino. You are quite strong."
The guitarist looks genuinely hurt at Nozomi's comment. He even sniffles a bit. "But.. But me ma always said I made great music!" he pouts. He actually is also masked… So are the others. But their mouths and eyes are visible, and it's easy to see their emotions. "Well… Y-Ahhh!!!" He flinched as the E# pierces his ear drums, though he tries to block it away. "That hurts!" he shouts, swinging a kick at the girl.
Hanami's attack is ducked once more, and the man manages to get away with that pillow. "Haha!!! Thunder Famoso! I got some supplies~~!" he cries victoriously, scrambling to get away while Mr. Bongos moves in to try and distract Hanami.
"There are many stronger than I, good Thunder-san." Yori replies a bit sheepishly, humble despite the situation and battles going on. When the wind attacks are directed at him he moves quickly, flickering away once, twice, then stopping as the frown returns. "I must ask you to please stop and come with us quietly. I'm afraid for attacking Kumogakure shinobi you will have to be put on trial." He almost sounds…sad?
The call of the man saying he's got some supplies grabs Yori's attention and the boy moves again, flicking over to him and aiming a hard sweeping kick for his stomach, reaching for the pillow to try and put it back in the cart. Once that's done he faces PMSoso again and offers the smallest of bows. "I am sorry for this." He says simply, then attacks again. Another flash of movement and a punch aimed for the mans nose, followed by the vambrace sweeping in from the side towards the mans head, hoping to knock him out.
Nozomi sniffs derisively, showing one of her great weaknesses, she's a music snob. Still, she surprisingly manages to dodge the guitarist's kick, and actually doesn't stumble as she does. However, being a wind instrument, keeps her from talking trash as she continues to duel the guitarist musically. Another couple of piercing blasts of the flute sound during the next chord, as she is no longer taken by surprise and manages to get a good foundation from which to play.
Hanami darts over the supplies, moving out of the way of Mr. Bongo's attacks. Fluff these guys are annoying her. But she collects herself. Head clearing a bit she notices Yori going after Mr. Maracas. So her first attacks with wind kunai go for Mr. Bongo and then the last zips past for Mr. Maracas. Even with Yori on him, that guy got the better of her and she's not going to just let him possibly get away with trying.
Thunder Famoso steps back from the body flicker strike, "Now I know your pattern, nino. I can see your attacks now! Give us the supplies and you can live." He leaps back and says, "I want you to take this to your leaders if they're so strong." He rushes forward and calls out, "Rariatto!" He sticks out his arm, aiming to catch Yori by the throat and clothesline him. To put insult to injury, he reaches out with his other hand and tries to throat slam him since he'll be close enough. "You got a pillow?! Good job, get more pillows!"
"OOOPH!" says the maraca wielder, pillow dropping from his hands. The man is able to scramble away from Hanami, though, that swishy noise still sounding in the background. But he's gone. … For now. The other man, guitar-wielder, also finds himself bleeding by the ears. He's covering them as best he can, though, as he makes his own disappearance. The bongo guy nods to his leaders words, giving a good "Arrrrrribaaaaa!" as he snatches a pillow and heads off. Actually, it's the same pillow that the maraca guy had dropped.
Down those pillows! What will the childrens sleep on!? Yori focus turns at the wrong time to the little thief because when he looks back he can't move away from Mr. Lightning faster enough. The lariat catches him and knocks him off his feet into the air. He doesn't get far though since the man grabs his throat and slams him into the ground. His ears ring and his head bleeds but he doesn't faulter. He kicks up at the man quickly before jumping to his feet and aiming two quick vambrace covered punches towards his chest. He's just as calm as he has been before. Simply taking care of business.
With the guitarist out of the picture, Nozomi is free to turn her attention to the drummer. She lets Yori take care of the masked moroco player while she continues to play on, sending another couple of piercing notes toward the person with the pillow. One thing about ninjutsu, it doesn't need melee range to act…
Hanami finds herself not being attack, but she isn't done yet. As the band members are running away she stands up in the cart, hands flashing through signals as she sucks in air quickly. They're far enough away for this to keep from damaging the cart at themselves. Then releases it in a rush, then releasing again. She /may/ be a little frustrated.
Thunder Famoso dodges and weaves from all the attacks but dispite all the dodging, he takes another a punch to his side, flinching. The strike did some damage, but not enough to slow him down. He says, "Ah, an excellent strike little nino!" He echs as the pillows are stolen, "Ok boys, we got what we came for!" He makes a hand sign as lightning chakra gathers in his hand. He raises his crackling hand and fires out three flares, which explodes sending a bright blinding light all around. "Grab Pedro and disappear!" he says, running himself. He gives a nod to Yori, "You are a worthy opponent. Thank you for showing me how strong you are. I hope to fight you again!" Away!
Yori raises an arm to block the lightning from blinding him but, unfortunately, there's too many and by the time he can look again they're gone. Stuffing. Yori is really frowning now and feeling totally defeated by the loss of some of their items. But first things first, he has to check on his team. He returns to Nozomi and Hanami, looking them both over. "Are you hurt?" He asks them both as he tries to spot any wounds they may have received.
Nozomi is normally oblivious to perception-based skills, so an attack like this is among her worse nightmares. The light flashes, and she is so blinded by that that she stops playing. The last note wafts off into the distance while she clutches her eyes, having got a nearly point-blank blast of light there. "Aaaaaagh!" she calls out as tears start rolling down her face.
Hanami sags, that last attack taking it out of her. She coughs lightly, bracing against the side of the cart as she sadly watches the band get away. At least she got one of them, but right then the leader releases lightning and the flashes blind her. She grits her teeth, eyes watering as she works to clear her vision.
After they're doing be blind, Yori would have the two sit on the edge of the cart so he could wrap up any visible wounds, as well as use some goop where they got hit to help with any pain or bruising. Once he was sure the two were okay he'd have them sit in the back of the guard and return to their vigilant guard before going back to the take the reins, guiding the horses down the road. Once they're underway he fills out a few pages of his notebook on the attackers so he could report it properly. And deal with them later.
It took a small amount of time for Nozomi to recover her eyesight. But once she was able to see again she submitted to Yori's healing before taking her position in the back of the caravan, as ordered. She spent the rest of the trip mostly silent, unless it was necessary to speak. Most people would have thought her brooding, which is very unlike her normally. No, she wasn't brooding, she was plotting. Bad musicians shouldn't be allowed to live, and they were some of the worst she's heard yet. Inwardly, she cringes when she thinks about what that kind of music would be like when she acquires the nejigan. Her imagination paints a sound awful enough to make her shiver violently. Sheet that Mariachi music…
Hanami clears her sight shortly enough but frowns at the enemies getting away. She's grateful for Yori's attention in recovering, though thankfully hers is only some bruising on her head, and a mild headache. That'd pass in time, but she remains vigilant all the same in the back of the cart with the remaining supplies. At least they only got a pillow, could've been worse. But it still rankles.
The entire team is, after recovering from the minor (?) battle, able to take the supplies to the town successfully. While the villain himself only managed to steal a pillow, it might be enough to make some people unhappy. Not many notice that it's missing though. It's only a pillow » And it's magically returned, anyway! … After Yori and the gang depart from the village with the good wishes of those who were living there. Mission success!
